For all things historical, including your family tree, the Rye Historical Society is the best source of information in town.

It started informally, led by a few parents whose children were enrolled in afternoon pre-school programs at the Rye Nature Center. They had been picking their kids up at the end of the Rye Presbyterian Nursery School morning program, going home for lunch, and then coming back to the Nature Center for an afternoon program. They asked staff if instead of all that driving, it would be okay for them to bring their children straight to the center and have lunch there. 

Meal times should be peaceful and a time of refuge. We all need a safe haven where we can hang our hats, put up our feet, and dare to be ourselves. It’s important that our homes and, in particular, our tables be gathering places for nourishment of all kinds.

Audiences were entranced by a world of pure imagination on stage November 4 and 5 at the RHS Performing Arts Center, as Rye Middle School students performed Road Dahl’s “Willy Wonka Junior”.

Italian gelato, French cinema, Spanish flamenco, and Chinatown tours are just some of Rye Neck International Club’s cultural pursuits.

Bo Kemp, founder of Hudson BioFuel, gave a presentation on greasecycling, the process of turning common kitchen grease into bio diesel, to the Rye Middle School Alive class.

Clint Eastwood has built an impressive career out of making seemingly unsympathetic characters likeable. As an actor, he took a revenge-driven, pugilistic cop named “Dirty Harry”, and created a national icon. As a director (and an actor), he made heroes out of amoral gunslingers (“Unforgiven”) and crotchety old racists (“Gran Torino”).

A new and dazzling show, “Divided Light and Color: American Impressionist Landscapes”, is at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich. On view until January 29 are some two-dozen oil paintings by 16 artists, including Childe Hassam, Theodore Robinson, John Henry Twachtman, and William Merritt Chase. Works by artists from both of the Connecticut Impressionist art colonies, Cos Cob and Old Lyme, are represented.

With Thanksgiving on everyone’s mind and menu, it’s the perfect time to thank our non-profit organizations — and the tireless and dedicated individuals who serve and volunteer — for enriching and enlivening our town. We asked their leaders and directors what they are truly thankful for.